Annual Report | 2020 About SFAC

Annual Report | 2020 About SFAC Mission and Vision Established by charter in 1932, the San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy. We envision a San Francisco where the transformative power of art is critical to strengthening neighborhoods, building infrastructure and fostering positive social change. We believe the arts create inspiring personal experiences, illuminate the human condition and offer meaningful ways to engage with each other and the world around us. We imagine a vibrant San Francisco where creativity, prosperity and progress go hand in hand. We advance artists’ ideas to improve the quality of life for everyone through a united cultural sector whose contributions are vital and valued. Our Goals Invest in a vibrant arts community Enliven the urban environment Shape innovative cultural policy Build public awareness of the value and benefits of the arts Improve operations to better serve the San Francisco arts ecosystem Our Programs Arts Vendor Licensing Civic Art Collection Civic Design Review Community Investments Neighborhood Cultural Centers Public Art San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries Kohei Nawa, Ether Racial Equity Statement The San Francisco Arts Commission is committed to creating a city where all artists and cultural workers have the freedom, resources and platform to share their stories, art and culture and where race does not predetermine one’s success in life. We also acknowledge that we occupy traditional and unceded Ohlone land. Fueled by these beliefs, we commit to addressing the systemic inequities within our agency, the City and County of San Francisco and the broader arts and culture sector. This work requires that we focus on race as we confront inequities of the past, reveal inequities of the present and develop effective strategies to move all of us towards an equitable future. Read our Racial Equity Action Plan (2021 - 2023) Cover photo credits (clockwise from top left): PUSH Dance Company, photo by Matt Haber; artist Sami See in her studio, photo by Lorenz Angelo; Sarah Cain, We Will Walk Right Up to the Sun, photo by Jeff Mclane 1 Letter from the Director of Cultural Affairs n behalf of the San Francisco Arts Commission, I am happy to release the FY 2020 OAnnual Report for our agency. As Acting Director of Cultural Affairs since early October 2020, I can add to the voices echoing throughout San Francisco and beyond to say that this has been an unprecedented and challenging year on many fronts. When we look back at this year’s headlines, dominated by the global pandemic, devastating wildfires and the Black Lives Matter movement that has prompted us to reckon with our nation’s history, our monuments to the past, our own personal commitments to justice and the stressors associated with the federal election cycle, we don’t always immediately think of the arts. But these unprecedented times have made us all appreciate the role the arts play to bring light and humanity to all aspects of our lives. Indeed, the arts have been a steady through-line over the past year. The arts industry is one of the most acutely compromised sectors due to shuttered theaters, galleries, music venues and museums; muralists have chronicled the lives lost to police violence and the need for law enforcement reform to better protect and serve; visual artists have been amplifying public health messages to help our citizens stay safe; and performers have been enlivening outdoor spaces as we socialize at safe distances. Throughout the year at SFAC, we have continued to support our arts ecosystem in multiple ways: by continuing our funding programs for artists and organizations, advocating for other departments and organizations to support the cultural sector and sustaining the work we know is important, valued and essential. As an agency, we remain committed to buoying those who creatively reflect our times, world and humanity, fostering hope for the future. Ellen Harvey, Green Map This report details the work of the Arts Commission from July 2019 through summer 2020. There is a great deal to be proud of, including the agency’s resilience during times of unease and unrest, and there was much to learn as we worked through some significant community challenges. I want to draw your attention to the following events: • The Continuous Thread was a year-long program that celebrated and engaged the American Indian community in shared healing after the removal of the Early Days sculpture that was part of the Pioneer Monument in Fulton Plaza. After decades of community outcry about the dehumanizing and oppressive depiction of a Native American, the City removed the bronze statue. We then launched a year-long American Indian Initiative (see page 5) which sucessfully manifested the Arts Commission’s Racial Equity Plan, in which we prioritize BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) artists and organizations. • As a rapid response to COVID’s financial impact on our arts community, Mayor London Breed announced the San Francisco Arts and Artists Relief Fund in late March. Within 10 weeks, this fund distributed $2.75 million in 2 Letter from the Director of Cultural Affairs (cont’d) grants and loans to those most severely impacted by the pandemic. This partnership with Grants for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation and Northern California Grantmakers became a national model for arts relief. • In the midst of our 2020 grant review cycle, the Community Investments team pivoted quickly to host peer panel review sessions online so that $8 million in grant allocations would not be delayed. Additionally, grant agreements were amended to maximize general operating support for awardees, providing as much financial flexibility as possible. • Not all artwork in the public realm speaks to the values that San Franciscans hold dear. In June, the City removed the Christopher Columbus monument located in front of Coit Tower, in acknowledgment of the figure’s divisive history and following multiple vandalism incidents. Protesters planned to topple the monument because of Columbus’ known mutilation, enslavement and murder of Indigenous People. Two days later, three monuments in Golden Dana Hemenway, The Color of Horizons Gate Park were torn down by demonstrators and others were vandalized, as protestors challenged the veneration of colonizers, slave owners and white supremacists in public art. We, along with the rest of the nation, are reckoning with our past. In response, the Mayor launched a partnership between the Arts Commission, Recreation and Parks Department and the Human Rights Commission to assess the ~100 historical monuments in the City’s collection and develop criteria with the community that will guide how to move forward with monuments in the future. • Another crisis of conscience arose when Bay Area African-American artist Lava Thomas was not awarded the commission for a public art installation honoring Dr. Maya Angelou to be located outside the Main Library, despite being the review panel’s first choice. Several months of communication about differences in interpreting legislation mandating a sculpture of Dr. Angelou resulted in the artist calling out our agency for silencing her. Ms. Thomas was also critical of SFAC for prioritizing Eurocentric aesthetics in the public realm. The artist submitted Requirements for Restorative Justice, demanding nine actions from the Arts Commission and the City, which were addressed to her satisfaction. The Arts Commission issued a public apology to Ms. Thomas, and in November 2020, she was approved as the artist to receive the commission. This was a painful journey for the artist, community, 3 Letter from the Director of Cultural Affairs (cont’d) the Commission and staff. These discussions were not easy or comfortable, as they challenged us to examine how we uphold our values. We emerged with a deeper understanding of our own implicit biases and a renewed energy to better serve communities of color. • One of the most cherished and widely celebrated programmatic responses to the health crisis was the SFAC Galleries COVID-19 poster series titled HEROES: San Francisco Thanks Frontline Healthcare Workers. The initiative commissioned 10 artists to create posters that trumpet public health messages. They collectively serve as a love letter to the doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, food service workers and janitors that are all heroes for helping COVID patients throughout San Francisco (see page 6). The arts being a medium for critical health messages is in part what led to creating the role of Arts Recovery Coordinator at the City’s COVID Command Center. The Arts Commission remains committed to working towards a more just San Francisco. This dedication is evidenced by SFAC staffers who served as Disaster Service Workers to help with essential services for City residents. Staff were deployed as monitors of hotels sheltering the homeless and COVID-positive patients, as food pantry workers, as administrators setting up contact tracing infrastructure and as translators at the Emergency Operations Center. I also want to acknowledge and thank staff that, due to the City’s hiring freeze, are holding down more than one job to ensure the Arts Commission continues to serve the public as it always has. So many staff have stepped up in so many ways, but a particular “thank you” goes to Deputy Director of Programs Joanne Lee, whose membership on the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force brought a much-needed arts focus to critical discussions. I am delighted to be serving as Acting Director of Cultural Affairs after the departure of my predecessor Rebekah Krell. Rebekah stepped in when Tom DeCaigny, who led the Arts Commission for 8 years, departed in January 2020 to lead the California Alliance for Arts Education.

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